Submissions open from 2025-10-14 22:00:00 to 2025-10-31 22:59:59
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#GBRetroDev'25

Heroes of Assembly 2

2nd International Gameboy Game Creation Contest at the University of Alicante

Game Development Competition in assembly for the Gameboy Classic (DMG-1), organized by the University of Alicante. Dive into the ultimate Gameboy Classic challenge! Show off your assembly programming skills and create the next retro gaming masterpiece!


Rules

(simplified)

For concrete details, please refer to the detailed rules at the bottom of this page. These are solely an overview for quick understanding. These are not the actual rules.

  1. Develop your new game for Gameboy Classic (DMG).
  2. Previously published or developed games are not allowed.
  3. Your game must be written in assembly.
  4. You must include the source code under a free/open source license (GPL, LGPG, MIT, or similar)
  5. You may use third-party content/assets, always with license/permission, but it will not be rated.
  6. Only cartridge type 3 is allowed: MBC1+RAM+BATTERY, 32Kib ROM, 8Kib External SRAM.
  7. Your game must be suitable for all audiences.

Sponsors Wanted

We are currently seeking sponsors to provide prizes for every place listed in the Awards section below.

First places available to sponsor are the next ones:

Overall - 1st place availableUA Students - 1st place REQUESTED

Overall - 2nd place availableUA Students - 2nd place available

Overall - 3rd place available

Once we have those places covered, the rest of the categories will be available to sponsor.

Would you like to be a sponsor for this year's game jam? Don't hesitate to contact us via email at:  gbretrodev@gmail.com

Trophy  Awards Trophy

Games will be recognized with the following awards, acknowledging the best achievements in different aspects of game development. 

🏆 Best Overall Games

NEEDS SPONSOR 1st Place Winner

NEEDS SPONSOR 2nd Place Winner

NEEDS SPONSOR 3rd Place Winner

🎓 Best Games by UA Students

1st Place Winner

Prize: 50€

SPONSORED BY

AHERO

NEEDS SPONSOR 2nd Place Winner

🏅 Special Category Awards

NEEDS SPONSOR Best Music and Sound Effects

NEEDS SPONSOR Best Technical Development

NEEDS SPONSOR Best Graphics and Artistic Quality

NEEDS SPONSOR Best Gameplay and Fun Factor

NEEDS SPONSOR Expert's Choice Award

NEEDS SPONSOR Public's Choice Award

 

Invited Expert

To be anounced

Jury

Ángel Navarro Martínez 

Alberto Rius Poveda 

Jesús Hernández Fernández

 ( Galahad Escape!, 2019 )  ( Crea tus juegos para Gameboy, 2024 )
 ( Packedtory, 2019 )


More to be anounced

How to submit your game

  1. Join #GBRetroDev'25 itchio's jam  (JOIN BUTTON at the top)
  2. Create your projects's webpage
  3. Submit your project                                 (SUBMIT BUTTON at the top)

How to create your project webpage

Create a project webpage containing at least:

  • Game title.
  • 4 screenshots.
  • Game trailer: up-to-40 seconds.
  • Attached GB file.
  • Attached ZIP file with source code (open sourced, MIT/GPL free licenses recommended).
  • These sections:
    • Description: description of your game.
    • How to play: instructions, controls and anything required to play
    • Authors and licenses: authors' names, contact information, third party contents and license, links and references to originals.

You may optionally include any other goodies. We recommend,

  • User manual.
  • Making-of: description on how the game was created, technologies used, problems and solutions found, learned lessons, pictures and screenshots of the development, etc.
  • More videos (gameplays, promotional, etc).
  • Any other goodies, images, videos, sections or contents the developers want to add.

Take into account

  • The contest is international: english will be used as common language.
    • You may submit projects in any language, but we recommend an english version.
  • All your content should respect itchio's community and GBRetroDev's rules.
  • Your project should be freely available during contest. Itchio's options:
    • Pricing: No payments
    • Visibility & access: Public
    • Kind of project: Downloadable
  • Decorate your page as much as you want. Check the "Past Editions" part.

⚠️Don't ever modify / delete your page after submission deadline

> Any changes to your submission (game page / attachments) during evaluation period may result in disqualification.
> These includes distributing new versions outside itchio or modifying external linked stuff.

On submission you will be asked to specify game pagegame namegroup name and a contact email.

Rules

Submission Conditions

  1. Submitting a game implies acceptance of the contest rules.
  2. Games can be created individually or in teams.
  3. Games can be of any theme that complies with the rules.
  4. Games must be suitable for all audiences.
  5. Games must be entirely developed in assembly language.
  6. The source code must be submitted under an open-source license to allow distribution. 
  7. The last modification made before the submission deadline will be accepted. 
    • Any modifications made after the submission deadline will result in disqualification. 
  8. Games must run on an Original Gameboy Classic (DMG-001) using an Everdrive X7 or EZ-Flash adapter cartridge. 
  9. Games must run on at least one of these two emulators: 
    • BGB 1.6.4 (2024/08/31)
    • Emulicious (2024/08/31)
  10. Only type 3 cartridges are allowed: Mapper MBC1+RAM+BATTERY, with 32KiB ROM, 8KiB external SRAM, and a battery for saving games. 
    •  Games that use more than 32KiB of ROM, more than 8KiB of external RAM, or other cartridges/mappers will be disqualified.
  11. Games CANNOT be published before the submission window opens.
    • A game will be considered previously published if: 
      1.  A playable version has been publicly available. 
      2. It has been presented at any event.
      3. A complete analysis, walkthrough, or gameplay video or audio has been publicly available.
      4. Any organizer, jury member, or guest has had prior access.
  12. From the opening of the submission period.
    • The game can be published on the official submission channel (itch.io). This includes the game, screenshots, images, gameplay videos, previews, analysis, or any related material.
  13. Games that cannot be legally included in a subsequent physical production or that raise legal concerns will be disqualified.
    • This includes remakes, tributes, or partial replicas of existing games without a license or permission.
  14. The game and all its contents must be new creations by the authors.
    • Exceptionally, third-party content is allowed under these conditions:
      1. It is mandatory to provide an explicit license or permission allowing public distribution and commercialization.
      2. This content will be EXCLUDED from all evaluations.
      3. “Versioned” content falls under this rule.
        1. Content is considered versioned if it replicates or copies existing material created by the authors and would require permission/license.

 Judging and Evaluation

  1. The jury will consist of a panel of experts plus a special invited guest.
  2. The jury will be announced on the itch.io website.
  3. Each expert will evaluate a specific aspect of the games.
  4. Each expert and the special guest will select their top 15 games, ranked from best to worst.
  5. The following evaluation criteria will be used:

    Gameplay and Fun Games that are most engaging and keep players entertained for longer periods.
    Technical Development Use of advanced or innovative programming techniques. Graphic effects, scrolling, raster effects, palette effects, etc., will be valued.
    Music and Sound Effects Higher quantity and quality of music and sound effects, with greater expressive richness.
    Graphic and Artistic Quality Best aesthetics, most harmonious and admirable. It will be valued if it creates atmosphere, ambiance, or specific emotions that match the game's theme.

  6. The special invited guest will select the top 15 overall games based on their own criteria.
  7. Points will be awarded as follows for each ranking:
    🥇 1st → 36p
     6th → 19p11th → 9p
    🥈 2nd → 29p7th → 17p12th → 7p
    🥉 3rd → 24p8th → 15p13th → 5p
    4th → 23p9th → 13p14th → 3p
    5th → 21p10th → 11p15th → 1p
  8. The games with the highest total points will be the winners.

    Best overall games Games with the highest total points.
    Best UA Students game Games with the highest total points from teams composed exclusively of University of Alicante students.
    Specific Awards Games ranked first in each specific aspect.

  9. In the event of a tie, the winner will be the game...
    1. ...with the most points awarded by the special invited guest.
    2. ...with the most points in Gameplay and Fun.
    3. ...that was submitted first (based on the date and time of the last modification).
  10. If more than 35 games participate, the top 35 will be selected in a preliminary semifinal. The remaining games will be tied in 36th place.
  11. The jury reserves the right to interpret these rules.
  12. External collaborators may grant additional awards according to their own regulations, provided they are previously approved by the organizing committee. These awards and their rules will be announced as they are approved on the contest website.


Organizers 

Universitat d'Alacant   ProfeRetroman  flamekasai  Jsala  Solsolet vikodev

Collaborators

To be anounced

Past editions

Last year we held our very first edition, the GBRetroDev 2024. Check and play the submissions to get some inspo!

Game page example

If you need ideas for presenting your project and what items you need for the submission, take a look at Cosmic Muncher's page.

PageVideo
Screenshots
Cosmic Muncher Page Overview
Cosmic Muncher's Screen Shots
Game titleAttached files
User Manual
Cosmic Muncher TitleCosmic Muncher DownloadCosmic Muncher User Manual

Contact & Social

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gbretrodev@gmail.com  gbretrodev